flames of war Archives - Page 25 of 41

Playing the game

Here are some photographs of a Flames of War game using my not quite finished, or not nearly finished German and British forces.

They are the opening shots of a game of Flames of War. Alas the models were only painted to a “basecoat” standard, normally I wouldn’t play a game with “unpainted” tanks, but still have some way to go with the models and we are still working out how to play the rules. The game consisted of a German armoured column being ambushed by British armour.

The few buildings were some Hovels’ ruins and some Hornby N Gauge buildings.

Basecoating the Flames of War Dingo

The Flames of War blister comes with three of them. I gave the vehicles and the crew a white undercoat, I then gave them a basecoat of Warpaint British Armour.

The crew were given a basecoat of English Uniform (921).

See the full workbench feature on the British Daimler Dingo.

Hovels Ruins

I bought these ruins quite a few years ago. These ruins are in fact 1/200th scale ruins, though they seem to work well with 15mm Flames of War. I had painted these with a black undercoat and then drybrushed them. I also glued some name signs onto them, though I have partly removed them, not very well mind you. As a result I have decided to paint them again. I sprayed them with a Humbrol Dark Grey.

Flames of War Renault FT-17

The Renault FT or Automitrailleuse à chenilles Renault FT modèle 1917, inexactly known as the FT-17 or FT17, was a French light tank; it is among the most revolutionary and influential tank designs in history.

The FT was the first operational tank with an armament in a fully rotating turret, and its configuration with the turret on top, engine in the back and the driver in front became the conventional one, repeated in most tanks until today; at the time it was a revolutionary innovation.

France still had several thousand First World War Renault FT tanks in 1940. Over 500 of them were still in service in independent bataillons de chars de combat (BCC) tank battalions in the front lines. Although adequate for infantry support, they were totally outclassed by German tanks in a mobile battle.

It is one of my favourite tanks, I have always had a fondness for this little tank, probably as a result of making that Matchbox plastic kit of the Renault and the Char B1 when I was young.

As I am creating an Early War French army I got some of these little tanks for Flames of War.

The tanks were small in real life and were quite small in the 1:76th scale kit, so I am expecting quite a small tank for 15mm. Actually I was surprised by how small the Char B1 is compared to Late War tanks, I don’t know for some reason I thought the Char B1 was a “big” tank, well it might be “big” for Early War, but otherwise it is quite a thin small tank compared to the Cromwells and Panthers you find in 1944. It’s quite incredible the pace of technological change in tank design during the war in just a few years.

I was pleased with the amount of detail in the model.

I like the fact you get two turret variants.

Undercoating the the Flames of War Dingo

The Flames of War blister comes with three of them. Having constructed the models I gave the vehicles and the crew a white undercoat.

The three undercoated Dingos.

The crew.

See the full workbench feature on the British Daimler Dingo.

Forged in Battle 15mm French Mortar Team

I was recommended these Forged in Battle miniatures at a gaming shop in Birmingham. They look well casted and a similar size to Flames of War infantry.

I mounted the mortar teams onto wooden sticks ready for undercoating and painting.

There are four teams altogether.

The next stage was a white undercoat.

See the workbench feature on the Forged in Battle 15mm French Mortar Team.

Making the Flames of War Dingo

The Daimler Scout Car, known in service as the “Dingo” (after the Australian wild dog), was a British light fast 4WD reconnaissance vehicle also used in the liaison role during the Second World War. The vehicle was officially designated Daimler Scout Car, but became widely known as Dingo, which was the name of the competing Alvis prototype.

The Flames of War blister comes with three of them. These are resin models with metal wheels and crew.

The models go together quite easily, but it can be challenging to get the wheels to fit flat.

The three completed Dingos.

The crew I decided to paint separately. I glued the crew to a wooden stick.

See the full workbench feature on the British Daimler Dingo.

Basecoating the Flames of War German Panther A Platoon

Panther is the common name of a medium tank fielded by Nazi Germany in World War II that served from mid-1943 to the end of the European war in 1945. It was intended as a counter to the T-34, and to replace the Panzer III and Panzer IV; while never replacing the latter, it served alongside it as well as the heavier Tiger tanks until the end of the war. The Panther’s excellent combination of firepower, mobility, and protection served as a benchmark for other nations’ late war and immediate post-war tank designs, and it is frequently regarded as one of the best tank designs of World War II.

Having given the underneath of the models a dark brown undercoat to add shadow I then applied the final basecoat of Flames of War Warpaint Late War German Armour.

This is the command tank.

See the full workbench feature on the Flames of War German Panther A Platoon.

Shadowing the Flames of War German Panther A Platoon

Having given the models a white undercoat, I then sprayed the underneath of the models with a Humbrol Dark Brown spray to add shadow when I apply the final basecoat of Flames of War Warpaint Late War German Armour.

See the full workbench feature on the Flames of War German Panther A Platoon.

Flames of War German Armoured Train

In this month’s Wargames Illustrated we get to see our first look at the German Armoured Train, which will be released on the 3rd March.

Unlike the Polish armoured train, the German Armoured Train is split between four/five boxed sets, one of which has already been released. We have already seen the Tank Hunter Cars that I quite like.

The four new releases are the Locomotive and Anti-aircraft car (pictured above) alongside an Artillery car and an Infantry car.

I have a bit of a thing about armoured trains, but did stop short of buying the Polish one when it was released.

However I am quite tempted by this one.

Of course most of my Flames of War models are based around the Normandy Campaign, don’t think the Germans used Armoured Trains in Normandy, but if you have any info on that would be pleased to hear it. Otherwise I will be out buying some T-34s.